For this Year 6 science experiment you will need:
What To Do:
- Cut a hole
(about the size of a coin) in one end of the box.
- Put a handful of
potting mix in the end of the box opposite the hole.
- Put the potato
on the soil.
- Put the 'obstacles'in the box, spreading them out a
bit.
- Put the lid on, and place the box in a sunny
place.
- Leave the box there for 4 weeks, then look
inside.
What Happens:
The potato shoot has grown around or
over the obstacles in the box and has reached the hole.
Why It
Happenned:
Plants have cells which are sensitive to light. These
cells show the plant which way to grow. The tiny bit of light which came
into the shoe box caused the shoot to twist until it reached the light.
Plants will always grow towards the light, even when they are buried deep in
the soil. The potato shoot should logically be green, but it's white because
the chlorophyll that makes it green can't be made inside the shoebox.